NOTE: The following is an opinion piece contributed by member Scott Huber in support of Question 1, the ballot initiative to remove the Nevada Board of Regents from the State Constitution, vesting more oversight of the Board in the governor and legislature.
I support the passage of the new Question 1 during the 2024 election and believe the Nevada Faculty Alliance should endorse this ballot measure. From my perspective, there is little doubt that the Nevada System of Higher Education is a troubled organization that needs oversight and reform. The treatment of previous Chancellors and the selection of new Chancellors has been alarming, current and past Regents have engaged in comments and behaviors that are completely contrary to the standards of a system for which they are elected to uphold, and decisions that directly affect the ability of institutions to meet their responsibility to their students are very often compromised for political agendas that serves the needs of the few at the expense of the many.
The reasons for this state of affairs are not surprising. Under the Nevada Constitution, the Nevada legislature is charged with funding higher education. Beyond that responsibility, legislators do not know whether those funds are being used appropriately or fairly. The Regents, the various Chancellors, and the System’s political operatives, repeatedly state that the organization is accountable and transparent. I believe the evidence for that statement is contrary to the facts. The System practice is to be selectively accountable and selectively transparent to the legislative branch and the public at large. This practice serves the political needs of NSHE, not the needs of the students or the state of Nevada.
Beware. Those who oppose the new Question 1 call it a power grab by the legislature. They have already declared academia will be compromised by its passage. They claim that legislators can and will force faculty to teach politically correct topics. They say Regents will lose the ability to be elected by their constituents.
From my perspective, legislators have no such objectives in mind. The legislative branch wants actual accountability and transparency because it is weary of being misled by the System officers. They are weary of being told one thing when the facts prove otherwise. They are tired of a System that views itself as a separate branch of government, behaving as though absolute immunity is their constitutional right.
In my view the sole purpose of the new Question 1 is to enhance professionalism and credibility within the Nevada System of Higher Education. This is precisely the level of accountability practiced at all other levels of state government. As currently written in the Nevada Constitution, the System enjoys an autonomy unlike any other. This statutory protection has permitted NSHE to grow hidden, self-serving and recalcitrant. Neither our students nor the state of Nevada are well served by this governance structure.
This much I believe is clear: History has shown that transparency, true accountability and reform of the Nevada System of Higher Education will not occur unless the protection afforded the System within the Nevada Constitution is repealed. Passage of Question 1 in November will create an opportunity, and a responsibility, for faculty leadership to engage with legislators to see that all of us get it right. Our students and the state of Nevada deserve nothing less.
